The present invention relates to an apparatus for the production and delivery of a continuous stream of yarn loops.
In the early stages of the manufacture of yarn, the yarn may be treated in several ways which require the yarn to be fed in a series of untensioned loops, as for example, to a steam chamber for stabilization. A device for looping yarn is known from the German unexamined patent specification OS No. 3 114 535. In this known device, the yarn is wound by a rotating lapping wing on a coil former and transferred by the latter to a band conveyor. The axis of the coil former runs vertically to the axis of rotation of the lapping wing and to the running direction of the band conveyor. The coil former itself is formed of two circular disks spaced apart on this axis. Arranged on the circumference of these disks are adhesion surfaces on which the yarn is placed by means of the lapping wing. To produce yarn loops, the coil former is rotated about its axis, while the lapping wing rotates simultaneously thereabout. The yarn carried along by the lapping wing is hereby laid continuously loop by loop on the jacket of the coil former about its axis, these loops are turned by about 90 degrees and then deposited by a stripping device on the band conveyor, providing a continuous series of yarn loops. As a result of the turning of the loops on the coil former, the loops produced first in this loop band lie in front and on top.
To start this device, the end of the yarn must be held fast until so many loops have been formed on the coil former, that they act to clamp each other on the coil former. This holding of the beginning of the yarn is usually done by hand, causing considerable difficulty in machines equipped with several such devices arranged next to each other. The beginning of the yarn can also be clamped by mechanical means and released after a certain period which, however, would make the construction of the machine expensive and prone to disruptions. An additional disadvantage is that the yarn is tensioned and stretched as a result of the lapping process on the coil former.
The present invention has as its object, the task of producing a device wherein starting of the loop forming is a simple and automatic operation, and wherein the yarn is laid out in loops without being stretched, and specifically in such a way that it can be removed upwardly from the band conveyor, and wherein the device is of simple construction.
These objects, as well as other objects, will be apparent from the following disclosure of the present invention.